I guess anyone can look cool on a bike. Luckily, I figured that one out before I knew what cool was. I mean, if they are good enough for the Fonz, Brando, Elvis, Evel, and Captain America, well then, that's good enough for me. One of the best Christmas presents I ever got was my battery-powered "Hugger," which I put many a mile on, cruising the mean streets of Ypsilanti, Michigan, at the tender age of two. I got my first ride on a real bike at this time (a Honda 600) owned by a Mr. Tyler, one of my dad's friends. Of course, my Hugger gave way to Big Wheels and Green Machines (not recommended for children under the age of 8. Ha!)

We moved to Mississippi in 1974, and there I found that my uncle Bill also had a bike. He gave me my first real motorcycle helmet at age 5. A childhood of spills, scratches, and sprained wrists would not deter me. Naturally, this evolution would lead to bikes of a more mechanical nature, and at 8, I graduated to a Honda Z50 (affectionately known as "PeeWee.") PeeWee and I wore ruts in the dirt roads around the house, and competed regularly in manure-pile jumping moto-crosses with neighbor Drew Martin, on a Z85. PeeWee gave up the ghost 7 years later.
Cruising around Berlin, Germany, on a Fat Boy, July 1997.
Somehow, I managed to get an endorsement for motorcycles on my driver's license without ever having to take a test. Lucky me. Unfortunately, alot of time would pass before I ended up with another bike. During my automotive hey-day after my freshman year at MSU, I decided the time was right, and I found a piece-of-crap basketcase 1981 Harley Davidson Sportster XLH1000 for $1000. Man, it was a dog, but, I had a bike. Just like with everything else, I took it completely apart for a total restoration. I have to say, it turned out nice...I took all the sheet metal and had it stripped, then I primed and re-painted it. I rebuilt it in the kitchen of my house trailer in Starkville. I also restored a 1978 Sportster, another XLH 1000. They were sweet. But just like all the other toys, they were liquidated during my senior year financial malaise. Dammit. I sold the 1981 to Dr. Frank Ingels in Starkville.
PeeWee, 1981
My two Sportsters in 1990-1991
Enter the bike you see below. In 1997, my best friend, Tommy Funchess, was diagnosed with lymphoma. Now Tommy had been my role-model when I was an undergraduate (I guess he still is): Grad-student in petroleum engineering, a private pilot with a Piper Comanche, a Ski-Nautique, and a 1969 big-block Corvette. Plus, he dated some hotties...

Tommy decided to sell off his toys so he could focus on fighting the cancer (he won), and I did what a friend would do and bought his bike: a 1989 Harley Sportster 1200. The good thing was, it was already in pretty fair shape. Of course, I couldn't leave well-enough alone, and repainted it, complete with: Belt drive, 4-speed, fat bob gas tank with dash kit, new tires, new stator, drag bars with 3 in. riser, forward controls, Corbin leather seat and passenger pad, sport bob rear fender, low profile front fender, H-D leather saddlebags and fork bag. Lots of chrome: polished front forks, primary cover, battery cover, oil tank cover, rockers, pushrod tubes, belt cover, Arlen Ness mirrors, drag pipes, you know, the essential Harley goodies.

However, I sold the bike in 2001 to finish grad school. I changed gears in 2002 and bought a new Kawasaki Ninja 250, and kept it for a year, and sold it in May 2003. In October 2003 I bought a Suzuki SV650 from Tommy (a bike he bought for his girlfriend before she joined the Peace Corps and moved to Africa), and I sold it in May 2004.
As of June 2004, I'm back on a new Sportster XL883.

2005- 1975 Norton Commando 850 Mk. III
2005 -1956 Harley-Davidson Hummer 125
2005- 1959 Harley-Davidson Hummer 165
2005- 2005 Triumph Bonneville Thruxton
2006- 1979 Triumph Bonneville T140E
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